Sales associates at Sprint, the third-largest wireless carrier in the U.S., are said to have been briefed on the impending launch of Apple's iPhone 4, but not a fifth-generation model.

Sales associates with Sprint have been briefed on the imminent launch of the iPhone 4 on their network, TUAW reported on Tuesday. The associates have reportedly been told that Sprint will offer the iPhone 4 starting next month with standard data plans that include a $10 data smartphone premium not specific to the iPhone.

However, the information relayed by the sales associate also contradicts a report last month from The Wall Street Journal. The associate reportedly said that Sprint will not gain access to Apple's fifth-generation iPhone until 2012, likely in early spring, while the Journal reported in August that Sprint would sell the so-called "iPhone 5" at launch along with AT&T and Verizon in the U.S.

"The associate also suggested that Sprint will carry a 4G iPad, though launch dates and pricing were still unknown," Erica Sadun wrote. "Of course, Sprint already sells 4G access for the iPad via its external mobile 4G WiFi product; maybe that's what the briefing referenced."

Sprint, like Verizon, would require a CDMA version of the iPhone. Apple debuted a CDMA variant of the iPhone 4 this February, where it has been the top-selling smartphone ever since.

Currently in the U.S. the iPhone 4 is only available through AT&T, where it launched last June, and Verizon. Sprint is the third-largest carrier in the U.S., but without the iPhone, the company has struggled to compete with AT&T and Verizon.

The last of the "big four" carriers in the U.S. is T-Mobile, which AT&T hopes to acquire for $39 billion. But AT&T faces an uphill battle for regulatory approval, as the U.S. government has filed an antitrust suit to block the deal, saying it would hurt competition in the American wireless industry. Sprint has also opposed the deal with its own lawsuit.

The last people to get specifics about the iPhone launch would be sales associates at a mobile operator's retail operation. Apple knows that retail line employees have the worst discipline in keeping confidential matters to themselves. Apple doesn't tell its own retail line employees until the last minute, they certainly the heck aren't giving their channel partners the opportunity to spill the beans weeks in advance.

Sprint retail sales associates will be given the details hours before their store opens.

I do believe they were briefed. But why just about the 4? Simple, because there is no official 4s or 5 yet. This just looks as though Apple will finally be discontinuing the 3GS and substituting the 4 at the low end. After Apple announces the new model, Sprint and other companies will be able to tell their employees what to expect.

This is called gorilla dust. The shysters in WS are trying to maximize their profits before the impending release. No one lnows when, but it is expected fairly soon.

They need to bring the stock down and give their call writers some leeway. I hope they get caught with their pants down. But then again apple has no kill instinct. they probably will not rain on MSFT parade this week. No matter how much the apple is insulted and spat on.

I do believe they were briefed. But why just about the 4? Simple, because there is no official 4s or 5 yet. This just looks as though Apple will finally be discontinuing the 3GS and substituting the 4 at the low end. After Apple announces the new model, Sprint and other companies will be able to tell their employees what to expect.

I agree with this reasoning - this is a low-level guy who doesn't know squat, and they reason they were briefed on the iP4 is that's all that's out yet.

I will say that if Sprint *doesn't* get the iP5 next month, it's likely I'll be one of many jumping ship. I've waiting a long time for Sprint to get the iPhone, but with my contract up and my frustration with my BB running high, I just don't have any interest or incentive to wait another 4 or 5 months for the iP5 to maybe finally eventually come to Sprint.

I do believe they were briefed. But why just about the 4? Simple, because there is no official 4s or 5 yet. This just looks as though Apple will finally be discontinuing the 3GS and substituting the 4 at the low end. After Apple announces the new model, Sprint and other companies will be able to tell their employees what to expect.

I will say that if Sprint *doesn't* get the iP5 next month, it's likely I'll be one of many jumping ship. I've waiting a long time for Sprint to get the iPhone, but with my contract up and my frustration with my BB running high, I just don't have any interest or incentive to wait another 4 or 5 months for the iP5 to maybe finally eventually come to Sprint.

I had been considering moving to Sprint for unlimited data if they get the iPhone 5 (I currently pay $15/mo. for 200MB with ATT). I had not considered a late release for just Sprint, and that would be very disappointing.

I've lost count of the people who have assured me they already have 4G since they have an iPhone 4! The public are so confused by all these claims of 4G services and what 4G is thanks to so many misleading ads.

From Apple ][ - to new Mac Pro I've owned them all.Long on AAPL so biased"Google doesn't sell you anything, Google just sells you!"

I've lost count of the people who have assured me they already have 4G since they have an iPhone 4! The public are so confused by all these claims of 4G services and what 4G is thanks to so many misleading ads.

The last people to get specifics about the iPhone launch would be sales associates at a mobile operator's retail operation. Apple knows that retail line employees have the worst discipline in keeping confidential matters to themselves. Apple doesn't tell its own retail line employees until the last minute, they certainly the heck aren't giving their channel partners the opportunity to spill the beans weeks in advance.

Sprint retail sales associates will be given the details hours before their store opens.

Agree 100%. There is no way Sprint would accept a plan that has them delivering the iPhone 4 at the same time that the rivals will be introducing the iPhone 5. That would amount to an admission of 2nd class citizenship on Sprint's part.

This is one of the least credible rumors I've seen yet, and probably didn't merit repeating.

Anytime there is a new article about the possibility of Sprint getting the iPhone, I have noticed a lot of angry people talking about how Sprint sucks, bad customer service, poor coverage, overbilling, etc.. The funny thing is that the comments seem to be copied and pasted almost verbatim on numerous forums. Either there are some really angry former customers out there who really have a vendetta against Sprint and carry a grudge for years or some Verizon and AT&T employees have too much time on their hands. Not talking about this thread (yet) but it inevitably happens.

<--snip-->

If you are not happy with your carrier, don't be afraid to try out a new one.

...and that is how/why I switched FROM Sprint. You can dismiss all the negative talk about Sprint, but my choice to switch was based entirely on my personal experience with their lackluster customer service and their "just buy a new phone" attitude. They used to be great, and they used to be a scappy alternative to the cellular hegemony of what became Cingular and Verizon. It's great to hear that you have had good experiences with them, but don't dismiss my personal experience as "copy and pasting from different forums." They aren't the alternative they used to be, back when their logo was red and their name included "PCS". Sprint became the very thing they were once a fresh alternative to.

I am sure they will get both. I have a Sprint business rep (who happens to often have good information about what is coming to the Sprint), and she has stated to me that they will have both the 4 and 5. I assume that the reason that there is a briefing on the 4 only is because they are precluded from giving out information to their staff about the 5 (which would inevitably be leaked to everyone and their mother).

I received an email from Sprint (which was subsequently retracted) which stated that there would be a iPhone 5 dual mode and a CDMA iPhone 4.

Going away as a current product. I have a 4, but I still retain my old 3G. its still useful for some purposes. it has 4.2.1. Slower in some aspects, but perfectly usable. The 3GS will go the same way.

Jeeze! It's old! almost 27 months old. it will be about 28 months old when they discontinue it. Amazing that its still the second most popular phone by sales; after the 4.

So we should see sales rise all around. According to all surveys, the pent up demand for the new phone is tremendous, and the 4 should sell very well at the discounted price, esp. since its so much newer, and will look so much like the new phone, which cant be said for the 3GS.

Of course, if it looks TOO much like the new model, some people may just buy it instead.

Agree 100%. There is no way Sprint would accept a plan that has them delivering the iPhone 4 at the same time that the rivals will be introducing the iPhone 5. That would amount to an admission of 2nd class citizenship on Sprint's part.

This is one of the least credible rumors I've seen yet, and probably didn't merit repeating.

This is because he's misinterpreting the rumor. I gave a reasonable explanation as to why it is believable. There's very little that we don't know about this. That Sprint will have the phone is pretty much agreed as being a done deal. But they can't speak about a product Apple hasn't announced yet, so they mention the one we all know about.

it's pretty obvious that the vacation blackout Sprint has for a couple of weeks is for the introduction of the phone.

Define 4G. I think most people would agree that WiMax and LTE, both available in the U.S. on Verizon and Sprint would qualify. Japan was actually very late to the LTE party. They only just started their service and only on tablets a few months ago. I don't know if they finally have LTE phones or not yet, but they were hardly the first to 4G. The U.S. beat Japan to 4G by a wide stretch. Prior to the iPhone in Japan, most people used very simplistic dumb flip phones. Granted, they included very nice cameras and a few other nice specs, but essentially feature phones.

What good is 4G LTE if you have a 2GB data cap? It is pretty easy to blow through 2GB with a really fast connection since you are far more likely to stream a lot more video. I use more than 2GB now primarily on 3G.

That my friend, is the whole point. They want you to blow by that cap, so they can charge you the ridiculous rates for going over your data plan.

If Sprint is offering unlimited with 4G LTE, then I might switch to them.

Side Note: There is a major game changer in iOS5. It is iMessage. If all of your friends have iOS devices, you can send them messages and what not. This would make SMS/MMS almost completely irrelevant. The next thing that would have to happen (to make sure that happens) is to allow competing platforms to use the iMessage framework.

That my friend, is the whole point. They want you to blow by that cap, so they can charge you the ridiculous rates for going over your data plan.

If Sprint is offering unlimited with 4G LTE, then I might switch to them.

Side Note: There is a major game changer in iOS5. It is iMessage. If all of your friends have iOS devices, you can send them messages and what not. This would make SMS/MMS almost completely irrelevant. The next thing that would have to happen (to make sure that happens) is to allow competing platforms to use the iMessage framework.

Bye Bye Text Messages.

But Sprint doesn't have 4G LTE, they have the non standard WiMax.

What needs to be done before buying a so called 4G phone at Sprint is to find out if it also works on other HSPA+ networks such as what AT&T and Verizon are using. if not, when you need to roam, assuming you are willing to pay the cost, you won't be able to use the "4G" at all. And with Sprint, there's a greater chance of roaming than "even" AT&T. And then, if you decide to move to Verizon, you may not get 4G at all.

You are the uneducated one if you think Japan has a working LTE or WiMAx network and any phones that can utilize it. It was data cards only earlier this year and I think they just released a Samsung Galaxy Tablet with LTE. To my knowledge there are no 4G PHONES in japan at all. The U.S. is far ahead of Japan in this respect. Considering just how much larger the U.S. is in terms of geography, that is pretty impressive. By the way, I lived in Japan for 13 years and still follow the news there pretty closely. I have friends there using DoCoMo, Softbank, and KDDI.

I'm not arguing phones I'm saying you don't know your ass from a hole in the wall when it comes to 4G. As far the capability they had it. Apparently the carriers chose not to make the deals necessary to take advantage of it but they had it.

Actually the 3GS is pretty fast. The game I'm developing pretty much always has higher frame rates on a 3GS than an iPhone 4. Why? Because although it's true that the iPhone 4 has a bit over twice the horsepower it has to display four times as many pixels. So if the iPhone 4 should stick around I see no reason the 3GS can't too.

I agree with this reasoning - this is a low-level guy who doesn't know squat, and they reason they were briefed on the iP4 is that's all that's out yet.

I will say that if Sprint *doesn't* get the iP5 next month, it's likely I'll be one of many jumping ship. I've waiting a long time for Sprint to get the iPhone, but with my contract up and my frustration with my BB running high, I just don't have any interest or incentive to wait another 4 or 5 months for the iP5 to maybe finally eventually come to Sprint.

I'm on the same boat. If Sprint only gets a halfassed iPhone launch, I'll be pissed. I've waited years for this.

What needs to be done before buying a so called 4G phone at Sprint is to find out if it also works on other HSPA+ networks such as what AT&T and Verizon are using. if not, when you need to roam, assuming you are willing to pay the cost, you won't be able to use the "4G" at all. And with Sprint, there's a greater chance of roaming than "even" AT&T. And then, if you decide to move to Verizon, you may not get 4G at all.

Of course, T-Mobile is the worst.

Well, first I didn't say the next one would have 4G. I just said when. I should have specified I meant true LTE 4G, not that WiMax junk they are peddling. That is being nit-picky though, so I won't say any more about that.

As far as iMessage goes though, most people don't have unlimited plans. I'll say it again though, Apple needs to open that up so other devices can use it (just like I wish they would open up the FaceTime protocol). That way it becomes a competitor to SMS/MMS.

As far as iMessage goes though, most people don't have unlimited plans. I'll say it again though, Apple needs to open that up so other devices can use it (just like I wish they would open up the FaceTime protocol). That way it becomes a competitor to SMS/MMS.

Doesn't matter. People won't use it. iChat used open protocols when it was introduced in aught four.

Everyone completely ignored that and did their own thing.

Now we have Skype which isn't compatible at all, among others. iMessage and FaceTime being the standards for the world isn't happening.

I am sure that you have heard the buzz in the market about Sprint getting the iphone, well thank goodness the rumors are true! We will be releasing the iphone 5 and iphone 4 in mid-October. I have attached pictures below of the new devices. The new iphone will be dual mode 3G/4G and also GSM (global). How many iphones do you currently have? I will be able to offer port credits and other incentives on new lines added to Sprint. How many would be new lines verse Sprint upgrades? I will send over a spreadsheet soon with all of your numbers that are upgrade eligible. I am not sure about the ipad yet. I would assume that is a good possibility but havent heard rumors about this. Have a great evening!

I look forward to speaking with you soon!

<Picture (Device Independent Bitmap) 1.jpg>

NAME REDACTED
Sprint Business Management Group
Business Consultant
Direct Cell- REDACTEDREDACTED@Sprint.com

I just love how folks automatically assume that people are lying. This particular rep works out of headquarters here in Virginia. I personally get invited to the headquarters testing facility in Reston 2-3 times annually and have put my hands on many devices long before they have been released. I was able to play around with the Evo months prior to the release and prior to the announcement. I was also able to see the Nexus, EVO 3d, blackberry playbook and the blackberry torch long before they were released. In fact, we have been customers so long that we actually sent all new devices on release day for us to distribute to our staff to play around with. They have not had a preview invitation in the past 3 months and I assume that is because of the iPhone but I cannot say for sure.

I redacted my name and hers so that noone would get into trouble. Each time that I go, I have to sign a NDA.

It's well-written, but hardly believable. Particularly the part about it having WiMAX.

If you take a screenshot that shows the outgoing IP address alongside this text, then we can talk.

Heck, people demand outgoing IP address when users claim to have received mail from Steve Jobs. We're a paranoid community with good reason.

If I knew how to give that to you I would. A little instruction might help. I'm no technophile just a businessman with a good connection or two.

Personally I think she is wrong with respect to the WiMAX as well but I think she is correct with respect to it being dual mode, GSM/CDMA. I also think she is correct that there was 2 separate iPhone models that will be available, a revamped 4 dual mode and a 5 dual mode.

Today's rumor of a iPad based on sprint with possible WiMAX does make for an interesting turn.

If I knew how to give that to you I would. A little instruction might help. I'm no technophile just a businessman with a good connection or two.

Oh, sure. Open up your e-mail client Um, hopefully you can do this with Mail. If not, all clients have the ability to show this info, I just don't know how to do it on any but Mail. My instructions'll be based on Mail, but the terminology should be the same.

Open that e-mail. Somewhere there should be a clickable option to show more details about the message.

In Mail, it's just this:

And when you click it, you get this:

The red's what we care about. Server from which the message was sent and the IP address from which the message was sent (so we can see if it's Sprint's server). Obviously black out absolutely everything else for both her sake and yours.

Quote:

Personally I think she is wrong with respect to the WiMAX as well but I think she is correct with respect to it being dual mode, GSM/CDMA.

I certainly hope so. We don't need more SKUs.

Quote:

Today's rumor of a iPad based on sprint with possible WiMAX does make for an interesting turn.

I haven't heard any rumours that convince me that T-Mobile is on the table. Since it's just the addition of the AWS band I'd think they'd just fold that into the GSM-based model.

I also would be surprised if the Sprint and Verizon iPads are just flashed differently for sale, but retain the same SKUs since there is no HW change, save for WiMAX which I think is not going to happen.

Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"

Oh, sure. Open up your e-mail client Um, hopefully you can do this with Mail. If not, all clients have the ability to show this info, I just don't know how to do it on any but Mail. My instructions'll be based on Mail, but the terminology should be the same.

Open that e-mail. Somewhere there should be a clickable option to show more details about the message.

In Mail, it's just this:

And when you click it, you get this:

The red's what we care about. Server from which the message was sent and the IP address from which the message was sent (so we can see if it's Sprint's server). Obviously black out absolutely everything else for both her sake and yours.

I certainly hope so. We don't need more SKUs.

That's THIRTY IPAD MODELS, though. There's NO way.

Looking at mail in Lion and I see no such options. All I have is a hide option and an inbox option. All it shows is from subject date to but no other information. Sorry.